PROCRASTINATION – The Killer of a Job Search or Career Exploration

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You think that life coaches don’t procrastinate? HA! Since I’ve put off writing this newsletter for three weeks, I figured there was no better topic this month than PRO-CRAS-TI-NA-TION.
I am a PRO: A pro-coach and a PRO procrastinator.

PROCRASTINATION—The Killer of a Job Search or Career ExplorationFor some, procrastination is a lifestyle. For others, it messes with their well-being and even screws up their relationships, job and life. I tend to go in spurts. I will have times of warrior-ass accomplishment and times of procrastination that can last a verrrrryyy long time. I’m a good prioritizer, BUT a lot of the time, I will use the ability to prioritize as a way to put more fun, easy and attainable tasks ahead of ones that will take longer to complete or not have an instant tangible result. Writing a newsletter has no instant, tangible result. Will you open the email? Read it? Give a hoot? Do anything about it? (OK you get the picture).

What can you do about procrastination? No app, scheduler or best friend is going to help you the way you are going to have to help yourself. I know “just do it” is trite, so I’ll put it another way. Anyone who has ever tried to write a blog post (try a friggin’ book!) or had to pay a bill when money is tight, or get a report in on time, knows that you eventually just have to force yourself to do it. Yes, FORCE yourself.

The ANTIDOTE to PROCRASTINATING = sheer FORCE!

Set a timer, promise yourself a reward, deprive yourself of something, make a deal with the devil—-whatever it is that will work for you—-there is not magic; there is only WILL.

Accountability helps. This is where a friend can come in and help to FORCE you or reward you with whatever it will take. It’s also the step that coaches provide as a built-in bonus when working with clients. And this coach has her own coach (actually a few—the diet coach, the speaking biz coach and an assistant who has twice a week calls with me that force me to meet deadlines).

If you are a member of the nation — the PROCRASTI-NATION — know that you are not alone, but also understand that you ALONE must DECIDE who is going to win.

Will you be triumphant? Let me know.

(Hey! Thanks for reading. Maybe it was worth FORCING myself to write today).

Relationships Matter!

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Relationships Matter!Sure, technical skills matter, but no matter what field you’re in, how you relate with people and the diversity of life experiences you bring into your circle matters.

“…building relationships is important because you just never know where the next opportunity is going to come from.”

One Engineer Explains How Relationships Can Have a Big Impact on Your Career

What Happens When Your Efforts Make No Difference?

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You fought as hard as you could. You jumped through every hoop. You kept your head in the game and your eye on the ball. AND you did not prevail!

Don't stop when you are tired sign yellow with stripes, road sign variation. Bright vivid sign with warning message.

WHAT??????!!

Four interviews over two weeks or seven callbacks over nine months; it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still not get what you want!

What do you do?

You grieve. For a bit. I suggest no more than three days. That’s my personal limit. After all, Jesus rose after three days, so it seems symbolically important too. (How’s that from a Jewish girl?)

AND THEN . . .

You pull yourself together and ask yourself: Do I want to quit, or do I want to allow this to make me work harder (and smarter)?

Depending on the answer, you act accordingly.

My daughter has chosen to follow in my musical theater footsteps, and it’s been a roller coaster of a ride. She worked professionally when she was a tween and came very, very close to several Broadway shows. She had HUGE “almosts.” Then, she became a teen — the kiss of death in professional theater. These are the “dead” years where you go back to your high school and community theaters and get more experience until you can come back as a pro after eighteen. (It’s less hassle to hire an 18-year-old who can play a younger teen, than hire a teen who comes with labor laws and schooling requirements).

We have been poised on that ledge of disappointment many, many times.
“Do you want to quit?”
“No,” she says.
“Then use this to build your determination to be the best you can be.”

The same goes for you.

Now, as a possible career transition seeker, not all circumstances roll like my daughter’s situation. Fighting ageism, changes in an industry, a gap in your resume and other issues don’t get resolved solely with determination and skill building. However, it does call for evolving determination, along with learning how to leverage your previous experience into something new and marketable.

That is where we come in. Please check out how to do this at Now What Coaching.

No! You are NOT Too Old!

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No! You are NOT Too Old!We hear it all the time . . . “Am I too old to go for something new? To follow my dream? To start a business?”

And, the answer is quite simply, no.

If you’re still here, you’ve got possibilities worth exploring. Need some proof? Read on . . .

An Inspirational Reminder That You’re Never “Too Old” to Change Careers

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

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At the airport this past Friday morning:

dancing feetA young man (I am guessing between the ages of 17-25) dances/skips with perfectly pointed toes across the endless carpeted open space in the international arrivals terminal in Toronto. I see him from the top of the escalator two stories up. Upon a closer look, I can see he isn’t a professional. He and his mother happened to exit at the same time I did. I asked the woman if I could talk to her son. She paused.
“He’s autistic,” she said.
“I know,” I said and proceeded.
“I saw you dancing in there.”
“I’m not a dancer,” he said.
“Well, I just wanted to thank you for sharing your joy. It made me very happy to see you dance.”
He walked away. His mom cried.

She seemed shocked that someone even noticed her son, much less had something kind to say to him.

I posted this bit on Facebook, and the reactions and shares piled up. Many acknowledged me for my actions which, frankly, still embarrasses me. I didn’t mean to attract attention to myself. I wanted to share this scene for people to take in and bring their own meaning to it.

In the few days since, I thought it was worth repeating here as an invitation. That invitation is to look up from your devices and skip past instant assumptions. Focus your perspective to cut through the surface to find a connection or commonality you can appreciate with our fellow human beings. See their humanity.

You know what I saw when I watched the dancing young man? First, I saw beauty in his form. Then I marveled at the freedom he gave himself to enjoy the open, uncrowded, carpeted space. Then I projected myself into that observation. Whenever I am in an open, carpeted expanse, like an empty Las Vegas conference ballroom (not random, I’m in these ballrooms often for speeches), I want to do the very same thing he was doing! I want to jump and dance and fly through the space to the limits of my human ability. Before a certain age, I cartwheeled when I was alone in these spaces. So by looking up from my device and coming upon the bird’s eye view of this dancer, I saw beauty, felt joy in watching him, and connected it to my secret. I relished the moment.

I also had to say something to him about it. I knew he wouldn’t care, but I felt moved to talk to him. I felt I could relate to this mother who has it much harder than I do. I know she lives in a world most don’t understand. I wanted her to know her boy had an impact. His freedom to be himself mattered.

What will you notice today? What will you SEE?

If you read this because you’re on the Now What? (am I going to do) journey, being more in tune with what’s going on around you can help open your eyes to opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed.